India Has Over 38,500 Registered Drones: Why This Number Is Just The Beginning

Last Updated:February 17, 2026, 17:14 IST

India's drone count has crossed 38,500 with 40,000 certified pilots. Now, a ₹400 crore military drone base in Meerut signals the country's next big leap in unmanned aerial ambition

India’s skies are getting busier. And it is not just passenger jets.

The country’s registered drone count has crossed 38,500, with 39,890 DGCA-certified remote pilots now officially on the books as of February 2026. Add to that over 240 approved drone training organisations operating nationwide, and a picture starts to form: India is not dabbling in drones anymore. It is building a full industry around them.

From Farms to Flood Zones

Drones in India are no longer a novelty reserved for tech demos or aerial photography. They are working machines deployed across agriculture, land surveys, infrastructure monitoring, disaster response, and public service delivery.

One of the clearest examples of this shift is the SVAMITVA Scheme, a government programme that uses drones to map villages and create official property records for rural households. So far, 3.28 lakh villages have been surveyed under the scheme, and 2.76 crore property cards have been prepared across 1.82 lakh villages in 31 states. For millions of rural families, a drone flying overhead meant, for the first time, a legal document proving they own their home.

Then there is the Namo Drone Didi initiative, which puts drones in the hands of women-led self-help groups (SHGs). Over 1,094 drones have been distributed to women SHGs, with more than 500 specifically under the Namo Drone Didi programme. These are not decorative handouts. The drones are being used to spray crops, monitor fields, and generate income, directly boosting farm productivity and livelihoods at the grassroots level.

Drones are also keeping watch over India’s railways and highway networks, offering a cost-effective way to monitor infrastructure that spans thousands of kilometres.

Training the Pilots of Tomorrow

The ecosystem is only as strong as the people running it. Recognising that, the government has backed a network of over 240 DGCA-approved Remote Pilot Training Organisations (RPTOs) across the country. These institutions are producing certified drone operators at scale, feeding talent into agriculture, defence, logistics, and surveying sectors. Skill development for remote pilots remains a stated priority as India looks to expand drone usage into even more sectors going forward.

A Dedicated Drone Base in Meerut

On the defence side, the growth is taking a very different, more concrete form.

Following the lessons drawn from Operation Sindoor, where unmanned systems played a central role in surveillance, intelligence gathering, and precision targeting, India has begun work on its first dedicated drone runway. Located in Meerut, the facility will span more than 900 acres and is being developed by the Border Roads Organisation under the Ministry of Defence at an estimated cost of Rs 406 crore.

At the centre of the base will be a 2,110-metre runway, 45 metres wide, built to handle High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) drones that can stay airborne for hours and cover vast stretches of sensitive border terrain. The runway will also accommodate transport aircraft in the C-295 and C-130 class, giving it dual-use utility.

The facility will come equipped with ICAO CAT-II lighting and navigation systems for around-the-clock operations in low-visibility conditions. Two large hangars measuring 60 by 50 metres each will support maintenance and rapid deployment. Planners expect the base to handle roughly 1,500 RPA sorties annually, averaging about four drone flights every single day.

The development is structured over 85 months, covering planning, construction, and a defect liability and maintenance window to keep the base fully operational well after it opens.

One Country, Two Drone Stories

What is striking about India’s drone moment is how the civilian and military tracks are running in parallel, reinforcing each other. The same regulatory push that certified nearly 40,000 civil drone pilots is building the institutional muscle to manage far larger, more complex operations. The same domestic manufacturing drive that powers agricultural drones is feeding into the defence supply chain.

India is positioning itself as a global player in unmanned aerial systems, and going by the numbers on the ground, and in the air, that ambition is being backed by real action.

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